It takes a lot of effort and time to teach a young child how to use a mouse or keyboard. It takes even longer to get them comfortable enough to maneuver through a GUI with little effort. Yet, once your toddler or young child becomes comfortable at this level, the amount of actual intervention on your part decreases immensely. The goal is not to get them an interactive babysitter but to give them independent computer skills which will build them a strong foundation for their future. Children of today will never remember a time when computers or the Internet did not play a predominate role in their lives. (Unless of course they grow up sheltered from modern technology.) These kids excluded, the geeky child is engulfed by technology.
The future of computers is fuzzy but one thing is certain: they will never go away. With that promising thought in mind, let’s get our children off on the right track and give them the tools to empower their lives with an open and ready to learn attitude.